Gastronomy
Catalonia:
Food: most original and varied cuisine Catalan food is very healthy and is part of the famed mediterranean diet.
There are so many dishes to choose from that if you go to a typical restaurant the menus can take forever to browse!
There are five main sauces: Sofregit or sofrito: comes from the verb, fregir, meaning to fry. This is the foundation of the whole cuisine. Onions are fried very slowly, repeat very, very slowly, in olive oil until they form a caramelised gloop. This not only gives many Catalan dishes their dark 'Gothic' quality but a sweetness upon which the later addition of picades add the sour. Sometimes tomatoes are added. Although to many tastes no dish seems complete without tomatoes I think this addition is more to add moisture than any other effect, as with so many caramelised onions the sauce remains determinedly brown. As the sauce predates the discovery of the New World purists would argue that the tom is definitely verdura non grata in a sofregit ! Moreover, the presence of tomatoes can lead to the conundrum of when a strong sofregit becomes a weak samfaina (see below), but I'll leave that one to the obsessive recipe collector! The making of the sofregit is often a weekly task as it keeps well and this is very handy as it is the basis of so many dishes. Samfaina : a vegetable medley that should include tomatoes and aubergines. It can either be based on a sofregit and included in other dishes as a well cooked down gloop or made specifically for one dish, especially those named samfaina , in which the vegetables are left more solid and identifiable. Coca amb samfaina (a sort of pizza in which the samfaina forms the topping) or Samfaina amb bacalao (with pieces of salt cod 'cooked' in it) are good examples of this. Picada : picades come from the word picar meaning to prick or stab in both Spanish and Catalan. A picada is used as a seasoning to add spice to a dish at the end of cooking. The standard picada is a mixture of raw crushed garlic and parsley, often mixed with olive oil and stored ready for use. The picada is traditionally made in the characteristic yellow and green mortar using its wooden pestle to crush the ingredients, but a modern hand blender is just as good. Crushed nuts (usually almonds or hazelnuts but may be pine nuts) can be added or used on their own. More exotic still, strong chocolate is added in some recipes like Conill amb herbes al vi negre (see main course dishes below). Other sauces, like Alioli and Romesco , are also used as a picada, this is one reason Catalan dishes have such enormous variety. Alioli : garlic and olive oil. Garlic cloves are pounded in the mortar with oil being added little by little, this results in a pungent viscous pulp in which experts proudly leave the wooden pestle upright, indicating the required consistency. Alioli can be eaten raw as a relish, for grilled meats for example, but its main use is as a picada . Alioli is not the same as garlic mayonnaise, although these days it often appears so; the addition of egg makes the essential emulsion much easier to make - and less lethal on the tongue! Therefore creamy alioli is very popular, especially as a relish with a wide variety of dishes, especially Fideua (see rice and pasta dishes below). However this form is not suitable for a picada as the eggs curdle in hot sauces and the emulsion breaks up, ruining the appearance of the dish.
Ali Oli is made from olive oil and garlic. Great with meats and fish.
ali oli
Romesco : a spicy relish made with crushed nuts - hazelnuts or almonds - and a special variety of pepper called a noria or niora depending on exactly where you are. This is a stand alone sauce served with fish, grilled meats or vegetables, but used as a picada it constitutes the essential ingredient to a Romescada (see below). Strictly speaking romesco belongs to the City of Tarragona and its surrounds, but it is found everywhere in Catalonia . If Tarragona might be described as the epicentre of its use, the nearby town of Valls , with its amazing Mostra de Calçots (see Calçotada , below), is the actual geological fault! There are numerous variations to this sauce depending on which use it is to be put and debates rage as to whether almonds or hazelnuts are the correct ingredient.
zarzuela seafood or fish
escalibada the Esqueixada Esqueixada de Bacallà: An exquisite salad elaborated with cod, tomatoes,onions,olives, hard boiled eggs and peppers.
esqueixada
Butifarra con mongetes: Typical sausages,beans, garlic and parsley
butifarra
Mar i Muntanya: This is a traditional dish of fish and meat on the same plate.
mar i muntanya
Wine: located in the Penedes
Alella whites or Emporda- Costa Brava
Priory, Conca de Barbera The diversity of dishes that you can taste in Barcelona is infinite. Nevertheless, we recommend you the following:
Vegetables
Faves a la Catalana: typical vegetables of Catalonia cooking in a pot with various types of meats, like ham, black sausage and cansalada, vegetables and "bolets"(a kind of mushrooms). It is cooked and served preferably in pot of clay.
Calçots: A Variant of the onion that is cooked to the ember and is flavoured with a sauce elaborated with tomato, pepper, mint and hazelnuts, among other ingredients. Ideal to accompany meals with friends or family.
Escalivada:
Simple dish based on eggplant and red pepper, flavoured with salt, olive oil and vinegar. Before preceding the preparation of the dish it is necessary to roast all the ingredients to strengthen its flavours.
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Meats and Fish
Butifarra con mongetes (A kind of sausage with beans):
Simple dish made with the typical Catalonian sausage (butifarra de pages), string beans, garlic and parsley.
Esqueixada de Bacallà (salad of codfish): Exquisite elaborated salad with codfish, tomato, onion, olives, pepper and hard egg.
Mar i Muntanya (Sea and Mountain):
The meat and the fish are presented in the same plate. It can be made with different varieties of both foods.
Pa amb tomàquet (bread with tomato) with a selection of sausages:
Slice of bread of coarse bread rubbed hard with the pulp of the tomato and dressed with oils salt and pepper. One accompany with sausages.
Fricandó:
Fillets of veal cooked with plums, pinions, tomatoes, onion and “rovellons” (a kind of mushroom).
Escudella y Carn d´olla:
A stew cooked with different meats of pig and chicken, chickpeas, vegetables, potatoes and spices. The “escudella” is prepared with the juice of the broth.
Sauces
All i oli:
Compound dressing of olive oil and garlic. It is served as a side dish with meat and fish.
Romesco:
Combination of tomatoes, onions, dried chillies, almonds and toasted hazelnuts.
Sanfaina:
Medium cooked sauce elaborated with tomato, pepper and eggplant.
Sofrito: Sauce based on onion, garlic, tomato and parsley.
Desserts
Crema Catalana: Dessert elaborated with egg, milk, burned sugar, grated rind of lemon and corn flour.
Mel i mató:
Smooth paste cooked with milk, curdle and water, and covered by a layer of honey.
Coca de Sant Joan: Typical sweets of the summer that can be found in various forms and tastes.
Panellets:
Small cakes elaborated with ground almond, sugar, potato, lemon, pinions, coco and cacao.
Wines
Cava Catalán (white vine with bubbles) Alella Ampurdàn-Costa Brava
Catalonia:
Food: most original and varied cuisine
Catalan food is very healthy and is part of the famed mediterranean diet.
There are so many dishes to choose from that if you go to a typical restaurant the menus can take forever to browse!
There are five main sauces:
Sofregit or sofrito: comes from the verb, fregir, meaning to fry. This is the foundation of the whole cuisine. Onions are fried very slowly, repeat very, very slowly, in olive oil until they form a caramelised gloop. This not only gives many Catalan dishes their dark 'Gothic' quality but a sweetness upon which the later addition of picades add the sour. Sometimes tomatoes are added. Although to many tastes no dish seems complete without tomatoes I think this addition is more to add moisture than any other effect, as with so many caramelised onions the sauce remains determinedly brown. As the sauce predates the discovery of the New World purists would argue that the tom is definitely verdura non grata in a sofregit ! Moreover, the presence of tomatoes can lead to the conundrum of when a strong sofregit becomes a weak samfaina (see below), but I'll leave that one to the obsessive recipe collector! The making of the sofregit is often a weekly task as it keeps well and this is very handy as it is the basis of so many dishes.
Samfaina : a vegetable medley that should include tomatoes and aubergines. It can either be based on a sofregit and included in other dishes as a well cooked down gloop or made specifically for one dish, especially those named samfaina , in which the vegetables are left more solid and identifiable. Coca amb samfaina (a sort of pizza in which the samfaina forms the topping) or Samfaina amb bacalao (with pieces of salt cod 'cooked' in it) are good examples of this.
Picada : picades come from the word picar meaning to prick or stab in both Spanish and Catalan. A picada is used as a seasoning to add spice to a dish at the end of cooking. The standard picada is a mixture of raw crushed garlic and parsley, often mixed with olive oil and stored ready for use. The picada is traditionally made in the characteristic yellow and green mortar using its wooden pestle to crush the ingredients, but a modern hand blender is just as good. Crushed nuts (usually almonds or hazelnuts but may be pine nuts) can be added or used on their own. More exotic still, strong chocolate is added in some recipes like Conill amb herbes al vi negre (see main course dishes below). Other sauces, like Alioli and Romesco , are also used as a picada, this is one reason Catalan dishes have such enormous variety.
Alioli : garlic and olive oil. Garlic cloves are pounded in the mortar with oil being added little by little, this results in a pungent viscous pulp in which experts proudly leave the wooden pestle upright, indicating the required consistency. Alioli can be eaten raw as a relish, for grilled meats for example, but its main use is as a picada . Alioli is not the same as garlic mayonnaise, although these days it often appears so; the addition of egg makes the essential emulsion much easier to make - and less lethal on the tongue! Therefore creamy alioli is very popular, especially as a relish with a wide variety of dishes, especially Fideua (see rice and pasta dishes below). However this form is not suitable for a picada as the eggs curdle in hot sauces and the emulsion breaks up, ruining the appearance of the dish.
Ali Oli is made from olive oil and garlic. Great with meats and fish.
Romesco : a spicy relish made with crushed nuts - hazelnuts or almonds - and a special variety of pepper called a noria or niora depending on exactly where you are. This is a stand alone sauce served with fish, grilled meats or vegetables, but used as a picada it constitutes the essential ingredient to a Romescada (see below). Strictly speaking romesco belongs to the City of Tarragona and its surrounds, but it is found everywhere in Catalonia . If Tarragona might be described as the epicentre of its use, the nearby town of Valls , with its amazing Mostra de Calçots (see Calçotada , below), is the actual geological fault! There are numerous variations to this sauce depending on which use it is to be put and debates rage as to whether almonds or hazelnuts are the correct ingredient.
zarzuela seafood or fish
escalibada the Esqueixada
Esqueixada de Bacallà: An exquisite salad elaborated with cod, tomatoes,onions,olives, hard boiled eggs and peppers.
Butifarra con mongetes: Typical sausages,beans, garlic and parsley
Mar i Muntanya: This is a traditional dish of fish and meat on the same plate.
Wine: located in the Penedes
Alella whites or Emporda- Costa Brava
Priory, Conca de Barbera
The diversity of dishes that you can taste in Barcelona is infinite. Nevertheless, we recommend you the following:
Calçots:
A Variant of the onion that is cooked to the ember and is flavoured with a sauce elaborated with tomato, pepper, mint and hazelnuts, among other ingredients. Ideal to accompany meals with friends or family.
Simple dish based on eggplant and red pepper, flavoured with salt, olive oil and vinegar. Before preceding the preparation of the dish it is necessary to roast all the ingredients to strengthen its flavours.
||
Simple dish made with the typical Catalonian sausage (butifarra de pages), string beans, garlic and parsley.
The meat and the fish are presented in the same plate. It can be made with different varieties of both foods.
Slice of bread of coarse bread rubbed hard with the pulp of the tomato and dressed with oils salt and pepper. One accompany with sausages.
Fillets of veal cooked with plums, pinions, tomatoes, onion and “rovellons” (a kind of mushroom).
A stew cooked with different meats of pig and chicken, chickpeas, vegetables, potatoes and spices. The “escudella” is prepared with the juice of the broth.
Compound dressing of olive oil and garlic. It is served as a side dish with meat and fish.
Combination of tomatoes, onions, dried chillies, almonds and toasted hazelnuts.
Medium cooked sauce elaborated with tomato, pepper and eggplant.
Sauce based on onion, garlic, tomato and parsley.
Smooth paste cooked with milk, curdle and water, and covered by a layer of honey.
Typical sweets of the summer that can be found in various forms and tastes.
Small cakes elaborated with ground almond, sugar, potato, lemon, pinions, coco and cacao.